Student Learning

Independent Reading

Each morning the students at Trinity begin their day with a short, intensive, independent reading session. During this time, students read independently at their tables or in a comfortable space in their classroom. Students are encouraged to read books of their choice, books of interest from the library, or their levelled reader. This is also an opportunity for teachers to listen to individual students read, support students with their reading and you might often see a teacher reading themselves too! This independent reading time promotes reading stamina, nurtures the love of reading, as well as encouraging students to pratice reading skills independently. At the beginning of Term 2, I will be running a Parent Helper Workshop to talk about how you could help with reading in the classroom. We welcome parents into the classroom to join us during Indepenent Reading time to listen to children reading. If you are interested in helping with this please make sure you have a current Working with Children Check and see your child's teacher or myself.

Home Learning

Home Learning has commenced this week with all children encouraged to participate in Home Learning and Home Reading. 

Students will have taken home a levelled reader or lexiled book as part of their Home Reading. Students are encouraged to read at home every day. For younger students, it is ideal if children can read with an adult family member. Books that are taken home are always at a slightly easier reading level than the level that students work on at school. This is so that home reading is not tedious or stressful for students at home. Home reading should be an enjoyable learning experience, an opportunity to enjoy reading at home together, as well as practising skills at home that have been learnt at school. Older students may take home a Lexile book from the library as part of their home reading. Sometimes these books have a comprehension quiz that students are required to complete. Children will also have the opportunity to borrow books of their choice from the School Library. Class teachers help students select books that are suitable to their reading needs and interests.

As part of Home Learning children will also be encouraged to complete learning activities across the week at home. These activities will be related to the learning that is happening at school. These activities may include a Numeracy activity, SMART Spelling, Reading or Writing activity, a Religious Education or Inquiry activity, or a Family Engagement Activity, which encourages families to engage with their child/children in their home learning.

For more information about Home Learning or Home Reading please chat with your child's teacher or myself. You can also access the link to our Home Learning Policy:

Learning Overviews 

This week, the Learning Overviews for Term 1 are attached to the School Newsletter in our Principal's News. We encourage you to read these, as the overviews will outline the learning that will be undertaken in each year level for this term.

Parent Chats and Parent Information Night

Thank you to the families who attended the Parent Chats last Thursday afternoon/ evening. It was wonderful to see many families embracing this opportunity to meet your child's class teacher and to share with them any important information that you felt your child's teacher needed to know about your child. If you were unable to attend on this evening, it is not too late... we would still love to meet with you.  Please contact your child's teacher or myself and we can arrange a time for this to happen. The more information we know about your child the better we can support them at school. We are very much looking forward to working with you and continuing our journey as partners in your child/children's learning.　

The Parent Information Night is being held this evening - Thursday 16th February at 6pm. This is an opportunity for you to meet the teachers in our school community, followed by time in your child's class to listen to the class teachers as they share information about class routines, home learning, important dates and events, and learning at school, as well as how you can support your child with their learning at home. We will begin in the MPR at 6pm, followed by sessions in your chil'd classoom. If you have more than one child at Trinity, we encourage you to attend the second session as well.

The evening will run as follows:

6pm MPR - Welcome, Prayer and Introductions

6:20- 6:40pm Session 1 (Your child's classroom)

6:40-6:45pm Move to second classroom if needed

6:45-7:05pm Session 1 (Your child's classroom) Please note: This is a repeated session- the same as Session 1

Your child is not required to attend the Parent Information Session, however if your child needs to attend with you, we will be providing supervison in the library during this time.

Learning Clubs at Trinity

This week all the Lunchtime and Before School Learning Clubs commenced and are back in full swing! It has been great to see many students participate with so much enthusiasm. We have a huge variety of clubs offered across the week. There are so many, that students often have the difficult task of choosing which club they would like to join! Most of the clubs have been suggested by students- which is great to see that students have a strong voice within our school comunity. We have a few new clubs this year- Rubik's Cube Club, Knitting Club, Sports Club, as well as some old favourites - Friendship Club, Maths Talent Quest, Fit Club and many more. A huge thank you to our teachers who give up their break time or arrive earlier to school, to run these clubs for our students. 

A huge thank you also to Bernadette Matthias (one of our dedicated parents) who runs Choir for our school. If your child is interested in attending a club and they have not attended this week please encourage them to come along next week. Everyone is welcome!

Learning Events/Opportunities in Term 1

• Prep-2 Testing (Week 3 - Wednesday 15/2)
• Prep Testing (Week 4 - Wednesday 22/2)
• Information Night (Week 3 - Thursday 16/2)
• Home Learning Commences (Week 3 - Monday 13/2)
• Prep Play Date 3:15-4:15pm (Week 4 - Monday 20/2)
• Learning Expo (Week 10 -  Wednesday 5/4)
• NAPLAN - Year 3 and 5 (Week 7, 8 & 9)
• Harmony Week - Multicultural Night (Week 8 - Thursday 23/3)
• Trinity School Fete - (Week 9 - Saturday 1/4)
• Parent Helper Workshop (Term 2)

If at any time you would like to chat about the learning at Trinity, or you have any questions or concerns about your child's learning, please do not hesitate to see your child's teacher or myself. 

We look forward to seeing you all for the Parent Information Night on Thursday.

Kind Regards, 

Annabelle Marinelli 

Deputy Principal - Learning & Teaching Leader

amarinelli@tcs.catholic.edu.au